BOSTON, Sept. 26 - With a legacy of pugilism growing by the series, the Yankees and the Red Sox continued to add to their long list of run-ins, although Sunday's slights and brushbacks were of a markedly milder variety.

When the 40-year-old pitcher David Cone announced his retirement last Friday because of an arthritic left hip, General Manager Steve Phillips was asked if the Mets had become too old and brittle. ''Not really,'' he said in the old Jets locker...

June 3, 2003, Tuesday

With a skyrocketing earned run average and an ailing shoulder, Pedro Astacio had already made himself one of the more difficult players for the Mets to trade. Yesterday, he may have clinched the distinction as the hardest to deal. Astacio was...

June 2, 2003, Monday

Pedro Astacio is usually one of the more jubilant members of the Mets' clubhouse, joking about almost everything and dismissing poor performances as if he had a bad hair day. But he is pessimistic these days. ''How could you not worry?'' Astacio...

March 21, 2003, Friday

The Mets received good news about Pedro Astacio's pitching shoulder today, but General Manager Steve Phillips said he still thought Astacio would not be ready to start the regular season. Astacio had a magnetic resonance imaging exam today in New...

March 8, 2003, Saturday

Pedro Astacio's right shoulder is bothering him again, and Astacio, who was second on the Mets in victories last season, was flying to New York tonight for a magnetic resonance imaging test on Friday. Astacio learned two summers ago, while...

April 28, 2002, Sunday

Pedro Astacio continued to distance himself from his arm problems and, for spring training at least, continued to make the Mets look wise for gambling on him. Astacio threw six shutout innings in an 8-0 shutout of the Houston Astros today,...

March 17, 2002, Sunday

Whenever Pedro Astacio picked up a baseball in the Dominican Republic last winter, chances are that a Mets official was there to examine the strain on his shoulder. The Mets watched Astacio stretch before his winter ball starts. They were allowed...

February 27, 2002, Wednesday

Bobby Valentine reached to his side and squeezed the right arm of the man sitting next to him. Pedro Astacio smiled and the two shared a laugh. Astacio was being introduced at Shea Stadium as the Mets' newest starting pitcher, and while Valentine's...